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[Pages 195-196]
Cabell, Joseph Carrington, son of Col. Nicholas Cabell and Hannah
Carrington, his wife, daughter of Col. George Carrington, was born December 26, 1778, and was a
member of the well known Cabell family of Virginia, so distinguished for the number of its
brilliant men, and whose reputation he himself did so much to maintain; educated by private
tutors at home, later entered William and Mary College, from which he was graduated with the
degree of Bachelor of Arts; educated for the bar, but never a practitioner of law; went to Europe
in 1802, returned June 1, 1806; upon the formation of the new county of Nelson, Mr. Cabell was
one of its first justices, 1808; member of the house of delegates or of the senate, for about
thirty years of the house 1808-09-10, and again from 1831 to 1835, from Nelson county, and
of the senate from 1810 to 1829, inclusive; aided in the founding of the University of Virginia,
and from 1819, the year of the founding, until 1856, was a member of the board of visitors, and
at two periods of that time was rector of the board, his last term of service as such extending
from 1845 to 1856, the year of his death; was frequently solicited to become a candidate for
congress, was offered honorable positions in the diplomatic services abroad, but in all cases
declined, preferring to devote himself entirely to the service of his state; was one of the
original incorporators of the James River and Kanawha Canal Company, chartered March 16, 1832,
was its first president, served as such until February or March, 1846, and ever afterwards
maintained an active interest in its affairs; after his retirement from public affairs, he
devoted himself to the management of his large estates, but never ceased to keep in touch with
the institutions and public works with which he had been actively identified; he became a life
member of the Virginia Historical Society in 1848; he married, January 1, 1807, in Williamsburg,
Virginia, Mary Walker Carter, daughter of George Carter, Esq.,of Lancaster, Virginia, and his
wife Lelia, daughter of Peyton Skipwith, Esq.; Mr. Cabell died in 1856; on February 8, 1856,
Governor Henry A. Wise submitted to the legislature of Virginia a special message announcing that
"Joseph C. Cabell, late Rector of the University of Virginia, is no more," and of him said: "One
with Mr. Jefferson in founding the University, a pioneer in the state improvements, a gentleman,
a scholar, a devoted patriot and Virginian, a venerable, good man, departing from a high public
place which he filled with ability and fidelity, I commend his example while living, and submit
that his memory is deserving of the honor I pay him now that he is dead."
[Page 196]
Ritchie, Thomas, was born at Tappahannock, Essex county, November
5, 1778, son of Archibald and Mary (Roane) Ritchie. He studied law in the office of his uncle,
and attended medical lectures in Philadelphia, but took up teaching, and had charge of a school
in Fredericksburg until 1803, when he opened a book store in Richmond, Virginia. On May 9, 1804,
with W. W. Worstley, he founded the Richmond "Enquirer," and a year later became sole editor and
proprietor. In 1807, following the affair between the Leopard and Chesapeake,
Ritchie was elected secretary of the Richmond meeting to protest against British "right of
search," and when the blockade of Norfolk was threatened he became ensign of the Republican
blues, a company raised for the defence of that town. He also engaged in a brief service during
the war of 1812. He was state printer from 1814 to 1834, and from 1835 to 1839, and was elected
congressional printer in 1845. For some time he conducted the Richmond "Compiler," neutral in
politics, and during Van Buren's administration, the "Crisis." To the management of the
"Enquirer" he admitted his sons in 1843, and in 1845, at the request of President Polk,
relinquished it entirely to them, in order to found the Washington "Union," which he conducted
until the election of President Pierce. So pure were his tastes as a political journalist that
President Jefferson once spoke of him as "culling what is good from every paper as the bee from
every flower." He was married to a daughter of Dr. Foushee, of Richmond, February 11, 1807, and
had four daughters and three sons. He died in Washington, D. C., July 2, 1854.
[Pages 196-197]
Hay, George, born December 15, 1765, distinguished both as a
lawyer and a politician, was a prominent member of the Virginia legislature, and many years
United States district attorney, in which capacity he prosecuted Aaron Burr. Later he became
judge of the United States court for the eastern district of Virginia. He was married to Eliza,
daughter of President Monroe. A number of exceedingly clever political articles were published by
him under the pen-name of "Hortensius," and he was the author of a "Treatise on Expatriation"
(1814); a "Treatise against the Usury Laws," and the "Life of John Thompson." He died in
Richmond, Virginia, September 21, 1830. He was a son of Anthony Hay, keeper of the Raleigh tavern
in Williamsburg.
[Page 197]
Johnson, Chapman, was born in Louisa county, Virginia, March 12,
1779. His collegiate education was received at the College of William and Mary, where he
graduated in 1802. Under St. George Tucker he followed law study until admitted to the Virginia
bar, and then established a practice in Staunton, Virginia, where he soon became well known for
his legal ability, and for striking eloquence as a orator. His practice was after 1824 conducted
in Richmond, and there became one of the most extensive in the state. Mr. Johnson enlisted in the
war of 1812, as captain of a volunteer company, becoming later an aide on the staff of General
James Breckinridge. He was a member of the Virginia senate from 1815 to 1831, and a member of the
Virginia convention of 1829. He was one of the board of visitors of the University of Virginia
from 1819 to 1845. He died in Richmond, July 12, 1849. He was a son of Thomas Johnson, of Louisa
county, and Jane Chapman, his wife.
[Page 197]
Bibb, William Wyatt, born in Virginia, October 1, 1780, died near
Fort Jackson, Alabama, July 9, 1820, He was the son of Captain William Bibb, was graduated at
William and Mary College, and studied medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, receiving the
degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1801. Removing to Georgia, he was a member successively of the
two branches of the legislature. He was a member of congress from 1807 till 1813, when he was
chosen to the United States senate, and retained his seat there until 1816. He removed to
Alabama, then a territory, and was governor in 1817-19, when it was admitted as a state, and he
was elected as its first executive. He died while in office, and his son, Thomas Bibb, succeeded
him as governor, 1820-21.
[Page 197]
Armistead, George, born at "Newmarket," Caroline county, Virginia,
April 10, 1780, son of John Armistead and Lucy Baylor, his wife, died in Baltimore, April 25,
1818. Five brothers took part in the war of 1812 three in the regular army, and two in the
militia. George was appointed second lieutenant January 8, 1779, promoted first lieutenant in
April, captain November 6, 1806, and major of the Third Artillery, March 3, 1813. He
distinguished himself at the capture of Fort George from the British, near the mouth of Niagara
River in Canada, May 27, 1813, and was brevetted lieutenant-colonel for his successful defence of
Fort McHenry, near Baltimore, against the British fleet under Admiral Cochrane, September 14,
1814. His steadfast bravery on this occasion no doubt saved Baltimore from capture, and the
citizens presented him with a handsome service of silver, the centre-piece being in the form of a
bomb shell.
[Pages 197-198]
Cocke, John Hartwell, who for a third of a century, was a member
of the board of visitors of the University of Virginia, was born in Surry county, Virginia,
September 19, 1780, son of John Hartwell Cocke and Elizabeth Kennon, his wife; he attended
William and Mary College, graduated with the class of 1798; joined the American forces
during the second war with England, in defense of the city of Richmond, in 1812-13, and was the
general in command of the Virginia troops at Camp Carter and Camp Holly; he was prominent as a
promoter of the temperance cause, held the office of vice-president of the American Temperance
society, and was recognized as one of the distinguished leaders in the movement in the country;
he as also vice-president of the American Colonization Society; he was a member of the original
board of visitors of the University of Virginia, and held a position in that body from 1819 until
1852; took great pride in the University as one of the institutions of the state, and his
influence was a factor in its development and substantial growth; he died in Fluvanna county,
Virginia, July 1, 1866.
[Page 198]
Lomax, John Tayloe, LL. D., who displayed high abilities as a
professor of law, in the University of Virginia, and who contributed substantially to the
development of jurisprudence in Virginia, in the capacity of jurist and author, was born at Port
Tobago, Caroline county, Virginia, January 19, 1781, son of Thomas and Anne Corbin Tayloe, his
wife; he was a student at St. John's College, Annapolis, Maryland, graduated with the degree of
Bachelor of Arts at sixteen years, studied law in the same institution, was admitted to the bar,
and commenced practice in Port Royal, Virginia; removed to Fredericksburg, Virginia, in 1805,
from there to Menokin, in 1809, from there returned to Fredericksburg in 1818, and there engaged
in the practice of his profession until 1826, when he was called to the chair of law in the
University of Virginia, the first appointment to that professorship; in 1830 was appointed by
unanimous vote of the legislature of Virginia to a position on the bench of the circuit court,
and at once resigned his professorship to enter upon his judicial duties; was reëlected by
vote of the people of the circuit in 1851, notwithstanding the fact that, under a provision of
the constitution adopted that year, he was disqualified by reason of age, having exceeded the
prescribed age limit of seventy years; his service upon the bench had been so conspicuously
useful, however, and his powers showing no impairment, his retention was so generally demanded
that the constitutional inhibition was removed at the concerted request of the practitioners at
the bar; he completed his full term of six years, acquitting himself with great ability, and then
at the advanced age of seventy-six years, retired to private life; Judge Lomax was a well known
writer upon legal subjects, and his works were regarded with great favor, being frequently quoted
as authority in court proceedings; his most important work, and one to the preparation of which
his leisure hours were devoted for several years, was his "Digest of the Laws Respecting Real
Property," generally adopted and in use throughout the United States; this work appeared in three
volumes, published in Philadelphia in 1839, and a second edition, revised and enlarged, was
brought out in Richmond in 1856; he also published a "Treatise on the Laws of Executors and
Administrators," generally in use in the United States, two volumes, in 1841, and a second
edition was published at Richmond, in 1856; Judg Lomax died in Fredericksburg, Virginia, October
10, 1862.
[Pages 198-199]
Henley, John Dandridge, born in Williamsburg, Virginia, February
25, 1781; son of Leonard Henley and his wife, Elizabeth Dandridge, sister of Mrs. Washington; was
a student in a military academy, and on October 14, 1799, in his nineteenth year, was appointed
an midshipman by President Washington, who was his maternal uncle by marriage; on January 3,
1807, was promoted to the rank of lieutenant, and July 24, 1813, was made a commander, and was
promoted to a captaincy, March 5, 1817; at the battle of New Orleans he commanded the schooner,
Carolina, and he won the approbation of Gen. Jackson for the part that he contributed
toward the victory of January 8, 1815; at the time of his death, which occurred in Havana, Cuba,
May 23, 1835, at the age of fifty-four years, he was commanding the west India squadron
[Page 199]
Breckinridge, John, born in Augusta county, Virginia, December 2,
1760, son of Col. Robert Breckinridge and Lettice Preston, his wife. He was a student at William
and Mary College, Williamsburg, when he was twice elected to the legislature, but, being still a
minor, was not seated. He studied law, and in 1785 was admitted to the bar at Charlottesville. He
enjoyed the personal friendship of both Jefferson and Madison. He was elected to congress in
1793, but did not take his seat, removing to Kentucky, where he established his seat, "Cabell's
Dale," and engaged in law practice. He became attorney-general of the state in 1795, and was a
member of the legislature, 1797 to 1800 In 1798 he visited Monticello, Virginia, and united with
Thomas Jefferson and Wilson C. Nicholas in drafting the famous Kentucky resolutions of that year,
which protested against the alien and sedition laws, and were in practical effect a declaration
of states sovereignty principles. While their drafting is generally ascribed to Jefferson, there
are strong reasons favoring Breckinridge as their author. This historic document was presented to
the Kentucky legislature by Mr. Breckinridge, and was adopted. He was elected to the United
States senate in 1805, and resigned in 1805 to accept appointment as attorney-general in the
cabinet of President Jefferson. He died at Lexington, Kentucky, December 14, 1806, at the early
age of forty-six years. He left a remarkable family of sons CAbell, a distinguished
lawyer, whose son, John C. Breckinridge, became Vice-President of the United States and a
major-general in the Confederate army; James, lawyer and congressman; and three who became
leading divines John, Robert J. and William L.
[Page 199]
Scott, John, was born in Hanover county, Virginia, in 1782. He
removed with his parents to Indian territory in 1802, and later to Missouri territory, where he
practiced law, 1806-61. He was a delegate from Missouri territory to the fourteenth congress as
successor to Rufus Easton, and to the fifteenth and sixteenth congresses, serving 1816-21.
Missouri was admitted to the Union in 1821, and he was the Missouri representative in the
seventeenth and nineteenth congresses, 1821-27. He died at St. Genevieve, Missouri, October 1,
1861.
[Page 199]
Wilson, Samuel B., born in 1782, in South Carolina. He was a
graduate of Washington College. He was made successor to Dr. Baxter in the chair of systematic
theology at Hampden-Sidney Seminary, and was made president pro tem. when Dr. Baxter
died. He later became professor emeritus and died in August, 1869.
[Page 200]
Wilmer, William Holland, born in Kent county, Maryland, October
29, 1782, son of Simon and Ann Wilmer. He was educated at Washington (Maryland) College, and was
ordained by Bishop Claggett, in 1808. After clerical service at Chester, Maryland, in 1812 he
took charge of St. Paul's Church, Alexandria, Virginia. In 1816 he declined a call to St. John's
Church, Washington City. He was one of the originators and president of the Education Society of
the District of Columbia. In 1819 he commenced the publication of the Washington "Theological
Repertory," and furnished many of its leading articles until his death. After coming to Virginia
he was a delegate to every general convention while he lived, and president in three different
years. In 1820 he received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from Brown University. In 1823 he was
leading professor in the Theological Seminary near Alexandria. In 1826 he became president of
William and Mary College, and rector of Bruton parish church, Williamsburg, but died August 24 of
the following year, and was buried under the chancel of his church. He left various published
works. A son, Richard H., became bishop of Alabama, and another, George T., was for some time a
distinguished professor at William and Mary College.
[Page 200]
Johnson, David, was born in Louisa county, Virginia, October 3,
1782; in early life his parents removed from Virginia to Chester district, South Carolina, and
there David Johnson was reared and educated, choosing the law for his life work; he was admitted
to the bar in 1803, and practiced at Union Court House, South Carolina; he served in the
following offices: Representative in the state legislature, 1812; circuit judge, from 1815 to
1824; judge of the court of appeals, from 1824 to 1835; chancellor, from 1835 to 1849; governor
of South Carolina, from 1846 to 1848; served in all capacities faithfully and well; died at
Limestone Springs, South Carolina, January 7, 1855.
[Pages 200-201]
Lumpkin, Wilson, born in Pittsylvania county, Virginia, January
14, 1783, son of John and Lucy (Hobson) Lumpkin, natives of Virginia, and a descendant of English
ancestors; when he was one year old, his parents removed to the Wilderness, which later formed
Oglethorpe county, Georgia, and there he received a meagre education, there being no established
schools at that time; when fourteen years of age he was employed as a copyist in the superior
court of Oglethorpe county, of which his father was clerk, and later he studied law, was admitted
to the bar and settled in practice at Athens, Georgia; he represented Oglethorpe county in the
state legislature, and at various times, between the years 1804 and 1815, was state senator; was
a representative from Georgia in the fourteenth congress, 1815-17, and in the twentieth and
twenty-first congresses, 1827-31, and was governor of Georgia for two terms, 1831-35, and during
his administration the Cherokee Indians were removed beyond the Chattahoochee river and the
territory they had occupied was made into thirteen counties, and the town and county of Lumpkin
was named in his honor; was elected United States senator to fill the vacancy caused by the
resignation of John P. King, and served from December 13, 1837, to March 3, 1841; in 1823 he was
commissioned by President Monroe to ascertain and mark the boundary line between Georgia and
Florida, and in 1835 was appointed one of the first commissioners under the Cherokee treaty by
President Jackson; he served as a member of the first board of public works of Georgia, and as
state surveyor laid out nearly all the early lines of railway in Georgia; he was a delegate to
the southern commercial convention in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1858; his death occurred in Athens,
Georgia, December 28, 1870.
[Page 201]
Nicholson, John B., was born in Richmond, Virginia, in 1783. He
was appointed a midshipman in the United States navy, July 4, 1800; was promoted lieutenant May
20, 1812, and was fourth lieutenant on the frigate United States, when that vessel
captured the British frigate Macedonian, near the Island of Madeira, October 25, 1812. He
was first lieutenant of the Peacock, under Captain Warrington, in the engagement with the
brig Epervier, April 29, 1814, and was given command of the captured Epervier,
taking her safely into port. He commanded the brig Flambeau, under Commodore Decatur, on
the declaration of war with the Barbary powers, February 23, 1815. He was promoted commander,
March 5, 1817; captain, April 24, 1828, and was subsequently commissioned a commodore. He died in
Washington, D. C., November 9, 1846.
[Page 201]
Massie, Thomas, son of Major Thomas Massie and Sarah Cocke, his
wife, was born in 1783; chose medicine as his profession; studied under James Drew McCaw, of
Richmond; graduated in Philadelphia; went abroad and studied in the schools of Edinburgh, London
and Paris; practiced in Chillicothe, Ohio, where his father and relatives, Gen. Nathaniel Massie
and Henry Massie, owned large landed interests; returned to Virginia; was surgeon in the war of
1812; member of the house of delegates, 1824-1827 and 1829-30; member of the Virginia convention
of 1829-30; a trustee of Washington College; died at "Blue Rock," Nelson county, Virginia, May 7,
1864"a most polished, literary and interesting man."
[Page 201]
Cushing, Jonathan Peter, born in Rochester, New Hampshire, March
12, 1783. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1817, and at once came south, and while in
Richmond agreed to temporarily take the place of a sick tutor at Hampden-Sidney College. He was
soon made a professor, and when Dr. Hoge died in 1820 he succeeded him in the presidency. With
his accession ended the formative period of the institution, which now began its rapid growth
into the proper functions and domain of a college. He secured an endowment, and built the present
college edifice and the president's residence. He graduated an unusually large number of men who
became famous. He became vice-president of the Virginia Historical and Philosophical Society at
its incorporation in 1831, with Chief Justice Marshall as president. Dr. Cushing's health was
shattered by an accidental discharge frm an electric battery, while he was experimenting before
his class. He died April 25, 1835.
[Pages 201-202]
Bankhead, James, was born in Virginia, 1783, son of James
Bankhead, a revolutionary officer. His tastes pointed to a military life and he joined the army
as captain of the Fifth Infantry, June 18, 1808, and rose by successive steps to the rank of
lieutenant-colonel of the Third Artillery, April 26, 1832. He saw active service and won brevet
rank as colonel for distinguished bravery in the Florida campaign, and afterwards in the Mexican
war received a like honor for conspicuous gallantry at Vera Cruz in command of the Second
Artillery, when he received the brevet rank of brigadier-general, March 29, 1847. In the
following year he was commander of Orizaba, a department in Mexico, and at the time of his death
had charge of the military department of the east. His son, John Pine Bankhead, was a United
States naval officer during the civil war. Gen. Bankhead died in Baltimore, Maryland, November
11, 1856.
[Page 202]
Maxwell, William, born of English parents in Norfolk, Virginia,
February
27, 1784. He was graduated from Yale College in 1802, studied law in Richmond, and practiced in
Norfolk. In 1830 he was elected to the lower house of the legislature, and was a state senator,
1832-38. In the latter year he accepted the presidency of Hampden-Sidney College and continued in
that position until 1844, when he resigned, and engaged I law practice in Richmond, and for a
time conducted a law school. He was active in resurrecting the Virginia Historical Society, which
had been suspended, became its librarian, and for six years (1848-1853) was editor of its organ
the "Virginia Historical Register and Literary Advertiser," He was an active member of the Bible
and Colonization Society. He died June 9, 1857.
[Page 202]
Tucker, Nathaniel Beverley, born at Williamsburg, Virginia,
September 6, 1784, son of Judge St. George Tucker. He was graduated from William and Mary College
in 1801, studied law, and practiced until 1815, when he moved to Missouri, where he was a circuit
judge till 1830. Returning to Virginia, in 1834, he was made professor of law in William and Mary
College, which post he filled with signal ability till his death. As a writer he excelled any of
his Virginia contemporaries. His "Partisan Leader" (2 vols., 1836) was printed secretly, bearing
the fictitious date 1856, and purported to be a historic novel of the events between 1836 and
that date, and in the light of the 1856-1865 period seems almost prophetic. It was reprinted with
the title, "A Key to the Disunion Conspiracy," and was followed by numerous other works. He took
great interest in politics, had a large correspondence, and advocated strong states rights views.
He left an unfinished life of his half-brother, John Randolph, of Roanoke. He wrote man political
and miscellaneous essays, and was a frequent contributor to the "Southern Literary Messenger" of
Richmond. He died in Winchester, Virginia, August 26, 1851.
[Pages 202-203]
Mayo, Robert, born in Powhatan county, Virginia, April 25, 1784,
grandson of William Mayo a pioneer surveyor, who served in that capacity in the Barbadoes, from
1717 to 1721, in Virginia, from 1723 to 1744, ran the boundary line between Virginia and North
Carolina, in 1728, surveyed the disputed land claimed by Lord Fairfax and the crown in 1737, laid
out the city of Richmond the same year, became chief civil engineer of Virginia, and died in
Richmond, October 20, 1744; after completing his classical studies, Robert Mayo entered the
University of Pennsylvania, graduating therefrom in 1808 with the degree of Doctor of Medicine,
and from the year of his graduation until 1830, a period of twenty-two years, practiced his
profession in the city of Richmond; in addition to his professional duties he edited the"Jackson
Democrat" in the presidential canvass of 1828; in 1830 he accepted a position in the treasury
department, Washington, D C., and served until 1864, the year of his death; he was the author of:
"View of Ancient Geography and History" (1813); "New System of Mythology" (4 vols., 1815-19);
"Pension Laws of the United States, 1775-1833" (1833); "Political Sketches and Revenue System of
the United States" (2 vols., 1847); "The Treasury Department; it's Origin, Organization and
Operations" (1847); at the time of his death he was preparing a genealogical history of the Mayo
family of Virginia; he died in Washington, D. C., October 31, 1864.
[Page 203]
Duval, William {P., was born in Virginia, in 1784, died in
Washington, D. C., March 19, 1854. His great-grandfather was a Huguenot, who settled in Virginia,
his grandfather Samuel a member of the house of burgesses, and his father, Major William, an
officer of the revolution, who possessed a high reputation as a chancery lawyer, spent a large
fortune in helping the poor and enjoyed the friendship of Washington. The so removed to Kentucky
when a boy, studied law there, and was admitted to the bar. He commanded a company of mounted
volunteers against the Indians in 1812, and was elected to congress in that year, serving from
March 24, 1813, until March 2, 1815. After his return to Kentucky he practiced law at Bardstown
till 1822, when he was appointed governor of the territory of Florida by President Monroe. He was
continued in that office by Presidents Adams and Jackson, serving till 1834. He removed in 1848
to Texas and died of a paralytic shock while visiting Washington. His life and character have
been celebrated in fiction by James K. Paulding, who portrayed him in "Nimrod Wildfire," and by
Washington Irving, who drew from him the character of "Ralph Ringwood."
[Page 203]
Early, John, was born in Bedford county, Virginia, in 1785, died
in Lynchburg, Virginia, November 5, 1873. He joined the Methodist conference of his state in the
great revival of 1801-02, and became an itinerant preacher about 1807. He soon attracted
attention by the fervor and eloquence of his sermons, and was especially successful in conducting
religious exercises in a revival. He successively filled the offices of secretary of the
conference and presiding elder, and was repeatedly a delegate to the quadrennial general
conference. In the agitation that resulted, in 1844, in the division of his denomination into the
Methodist church north and south, Mr. Early took an active part, and was elected the first book
agent of the latter. Though sixty-nine years of age, he was elected bishop in 1854, and served
his church with great zeal and fidelity for nineteen years. He was largely instrumental in
founding Randolph-Macon College, Virginia. Bishop Early, though a vigorous writer, published only
a few sermons. addresses, and occasional pamphlets, some of them relating to the disruption
controversy. He received the degree of Doctor of Divinity.
[Pages 203-204]
Armistead, Walker Keith, was born in Virginia, about 1785, brother
of George Armistead (q. v.). He was graduated from West
Point in 1803, his class being the second to be graduated from the academy, and was promoted to
second lieutenant of engineers. In 1805 he was promoted first lieutenant, and in 1806 captain.
From 1808 to 1811, he served as superintending engineer of the Norfolk (Va.) defences, being
advanced to a major's commission on July 23, 1810. The following year he was at the military
academy, remaining there until the outbreak of the war of 1812, when he was assigned to duty on
the Niagara frontier as chief engineer of the army. On July 31, 1812, he was promoted
lieutenant-colonel, was engaged at Fort Niagara during its bombardment in November, 1812, and in
1813, as engineer of the forces for the defence of the mouth of the Chesapeake bay, including
Norfolk and Craney Island. From 1814 to 1818 he served as superintending engineer of the defences
of Chesapeake bay and its tributary waters, being promoted colonel and chief engineer of the
United States army on November 12, 1818. For three years following he was in command of a corps
of engineers, in charge of the engineer bureau at Washington, and inspector of the military
academy. On June 1, 1821, the army being reorganized, he was promoted colonel, and from 1821 to
1827 was stationed at the headquarters of the Third Artillery, established at Fort Washington,
Maryland, Boston, Massachusetts, New London, Connecticut, Upperville, Virginia, and Fort Monroe,
Virginia, and served in the Florida war against the Seminole Indians from 1836 to 1838. For two
years he was on court martial duty, and from May, 1840 to May, 1841, was in command of the
Florida army serving against the Seminoles. For two years following this he was on the board to
select a site for a western armory, and in 1843 and 1844 commanded his regiment at Fort Moultrie,
South Carolina. In the latter part of 1844 he went to Upperville, Virginia, on sick leave, and
died there October 13, 1845.
[Page 204]
Coles, Edward, was born in Albemarle county, Virginia, December
15, 1786, son of Col. John Coles and Rebecca (Tucker) Coles, his wife. He was educated at
Hampden-Sidney and William and Mary Colleges. From 1809 to 1815 he was private secretary to
President Madison. He inherited a plantation and a number of negroes. He bitterly disliked
slavery, and in corresponding with Jefferson urged its extinguishment. In 1816 he was sent on a
mission to Russia. In 1818 he settled in Illinois, and in the convention which framed the state
constitution he used his influence to prevent recognition of slavery. In 1819 he was appointed
registrar of the Illinois land office. He now freed his slaves, and gave one hundred and sixty
acres of land to each head of a family. He was elected governor (the second) of Illinois in 1822.
He persistently opposed slavery through the press and by personal correspondence, and was
instrumental in forming anti-slavery societies in fifteen counties in Illinois. He suffered much
annoyance on account of his strong anti-slavery views, and before his gubernatorial term had
expired, he was tried for failure to give bonds that his emancipated slaves should not become
public charges. He was heavily fined, but the supreme court of the state subsequently overruled
the decision of the lower court. In 1833 he settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he died,
July 7, 1868.